IRAN NEWS |

UN panel: Assad used chemical weapon 8 times in April in Syria

A United Nations report says that Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad used chemical weapons eight times in April in attacks in northern Syrian villages.

The report by an independent U.N. commission investigating war crimes in Syria said it believed chlorine, dispatched in barrel bombs, was the agent used on multiple occasions.

"There are reasonable grounds to believe that the chlorine has been dropped, particularly in barrel bombs from helicopters belonging to the government authorities. So the finger points there," said commission member Vitit Muntarbhorn, a Thai professor who has investigated human rights in North Korea.

The commission also emphasized that Assad's government forces continue to perpetrate crimes against humanity through massacres and systematic murder, torture, rape and disappearances.

The report also highlighted mock crucifixions, public executions, amputations and the beheading of children by ISIS in parts of Syria.

The report said that public executions were a common sight in the areas controlled by the ISIS and in some instances, there is enough evidence to believe that civilian population was targeted deliberately.